What beautiful scenery. Fantastic talent. Wow, check out the cinematography….Awesome ….. Oh, what’d he say? I’ve watched my fair share of indie films and judging by the DVD shelf that just crashed to earth, perhaps collected a few too many. So when my movie arrived fresh from purchase I did not expect the sound to, [...]
Many talented filmmakers have contributed their work to RIFF 2010. Fortunately for us, I was able to catch up with Sean Christensen the director of one of our amazing animated entries, The Sandwich Movie. He was most generous with his time. Enjoy! TINA: If my memory serves, I believe Fan Mail was a student entry [...]
Rainy Saturdays are a good excuse to watch old movies. Good Will Hunting proved to be a good choice this weekend. It is also a great example of using a long take to good effect. The long take is not used as frequently as other emotionally manipulative shots but when it is the audience’s attention [...]
With RIFF 2010 approaching fast, I thought it only fair to interview a few more of the animated characters featured this year. Fortunately, I was able to catch up the star of The Mouse That Soared and he was most generous with his time. I hope you will enjoy getting to know him as much [...]
Well, not exactly. The music of Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields defies the conventions of any established category. They create their own. Last night’s screening of Strange Powers, was a good time and educational. I want to clarify that I don’t mean ‘educational’ in the stoic sense that one says, ‘yeah, I learned something’ [...]
I’m really wowed by the animated movies showing at RIFF this year. Some really exceptional talent went into making these films so I thought I’d start by talking to the director of Pigeon Impossible, Lucas Martell. me: Knock, knock, knock Mr. Pigeon: Yeah, who’s there? me: Hello. My name is Tina and I’m a blogger [...]
This weekend I had the opportunity to visit an indie film lover’s landmark, our countries longest continuously operating art cinema, The Paris in New York City. Sandwiched between The Plaza and Bergdorf Goodman’s, this grand dam’s marquee faces Central Park and has premiered the best independent films since 1948. Debuting in the United States this [...]
I can’t believe they made it an acronym. Well, maybe I can. I’ve been a Washingtonian for a long time and acronyms are a separate language here. Thinking about the early days of filmmaking when the term ‘independent film’ was an oxymoron, the old tired phrase “everything old is new again came to mind.” Being [...]
Last week I read a review of an independent filmmaker’s work that completely missed the mark. The reviewer gave himself away with the comment, “Why does he continue to make these weird films?” Clearly better suited to review the fashion statements and nuisances of Pink Panther II, the writer just did not get it. The [...]
Finally, my copy of Vahilla Rising arrived. A visceral film by acclaimed director Nicolas Winding Refn, Vahilla Rising is hard to tag with the usual cinematic labels because there are many things this epic tale is not. What it is though, unquestionable and resolutely, is outside the box. This film is no cookie-cutter imitation/feel-good formula [...]
